Press Release - January 11, 2019

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Dan’l Lewin Becomes Chairman of SVCF Board of Directors

Law, finance and philanthropy executives join board of directors

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Dan’l Lewin, president and CEO of the Computer History Museum, has been appointed chairman of the board of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and three new directors have joined the board, SVCF announced today.

The new SVCF board members are George Brown, retired partner with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; Larry Kramer, president of the Hewlett Foundation; and Luz Urrutia, CEO of Opportunity Fund. The appointments were effective Jan. 1, 2019.

"We welcome Luz, Larry and George to the board of SVCF and look forward to benefiting from their deep experiences in serving the needs of the Silicon Valley community,” said Lewin, who previously served as vice chair of SVCF’s board.

Because of the generosity of its individual, family and corporate donors, SVCF is one of the biggest funders of Bay Area charities. The majority of SVCF’s grants to nonprofit organizations flow from donor advised funds and other charitable funds held at SVCF. Through strategic grants funded primarily by its endowment, SVCF supports nonprofit organizations and partnerships that focus on civic engagement, education, financial stability, housing and transportation and immigration in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Dan’l Lewin, board chair, is president and CEO of the Computer History Museum (CHM), a nonprofit organization with a four-decade history as the world’s leading institution exploring the history of computing and its ongoing impact on society. In 30-plus years of Silicon Valley leadership experience, Lewin has brought financial, corporate, academic, and civic leaders together to advance emerging technology, digital transformation and sustainability initiatives at companies that include Microsoft, NeXT, Apple and Sony. Lewin was part of the board committee that recruited SVCF’s new president and CEO, Nicole Taylor, who joined SVCF in December.

George Brown has been an attorney for three decades, specializing in complex business litigation, and has been involved in public interest efforts throughout his career, including work with several Silicon Valley nonprofit organizations. He is a retired partner with Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he practiced in the Palo Alto and Los Angeles offices. His clients included large global companies, boards, CEOs and CFOs in matters involving securities class actions, corporate governance disputes and related investigations work. Brown also has taught accounting and finance for business litigation at UC Berkeley School of Law, and has been a law professor at UCLA School of Law.

Larry Kramer has been president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation since 2012. Under his leadership, the foundation has maintained its commitment to areas of enduring concern, while adapting its approaches and strategies to meet changing circumstances and seize new opportunities. He has been instrumental in launching new efforts to respond to timely problems, such as challenges related to political polarization, digital disinformation and cybersecurity. Kramer has also served as professor of law and dean of the Stanford Law School.

Luz Urrutia has been CEO of Opportunity Fund since 2017, continuing her life’s work of building a more inclusive financial system. After 18 years at Wachovia, Urrutia founded El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad, a Georgia-based financial institution for the underbanked Latino population, and was its president and COO from 2001 to 2013. She then joined Oportun, leading its expansion across five states. In 2016, she joined Dollar Financial Group as CEO for the Americas. She has served on the board of the Center for Financial Services Innovation and the Consumer Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank. Currently, she serves on the Consumer Advisory Board for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

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About Silicon Valley Community Foundation Silicon Valley Community Foundation advances innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems. We engage donors and corporations from Silicon Valley, across the country and around the globe to make our region and world better for all. Our passion for helping people and organizations achieve their philanthropic dreams has created a global philanthropic enterprise committed to the belief that possibilities start here. Learn more at siliconvalleycf.org.